Japan warns residents to take shelter as North Korea launches missile over nation

by Eleanor Mueller, Sinclair Broadcast Group

FILE - In this July 28, 2017, file photo distributed by the North Korean government, shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. North Korea was the main concern cited in the "white paper" approved by Japan's Cabinet on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017, less than two weeks after the North test-fired its second ICBM. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

The missile headed east before eventually landing in the Pacific Ocean about 1,200 miles east of northern Japan, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

The exact type and range of missiles shot by North Korea has not been confirmed; the U.S. and South Korea are "analyzing the details," according to Yonhap.

Japan didn’t attempt to shoot down the unidentified missile, according to Bloomberg.

Spokesman for the Japanese government Yoshihide Suga called the situation similar to when a missile was fired over Japan on August 29, according to NHK. Tokyo called the incident an "unprecedented threat" to the country; the U.N. Security Council called it "outrageous."

Thursday's launch comes less than a week after the U.N. Security Council established new sanctions against the country, banning all textile exports. Proposed in an emergency session after North Korea said it detonated a hydrogen bomb underground, the move was meant to pressure the nation into halting its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Recently, North Korea threatened to bomb Guam, a U.S. territory. President Donald Trump responded in kind by promising the nation "fire and fury like the world has never seen" should Pyongkang follow through.